Linux Mint 4.0 "Daryna" - English
left Introduction Clement Lefebvre is a very important Linux distribution developer and his enthusiasm showed in his job, resulting in the wonderful Linux distro called Linux Mint that been rised to 4.0 version in last week. I have downloaded that distro version and i'm going to write a short review on them. Name & Typology Linux Mint 4.0, codename "Daryna", is a complete Linux desktop operating system, live/installable, based on Ubuntu, made in Ireland and tuned for i686 architectures. All types of users may use this distro. Test Test was made in Live session, without installation on a laptop with AMD Sempron processor. At the boot-up no options was planed. However shortly before running of graphic server this was unable to recognize both graphic card and screen resolution, then i was forced to setup the X server during the booting time. Fortunately that configuration exited in positive result.. No other issues during bootup. Options and loading time After CD start, we go into a boot page wich present few options : *Start Linux Mint *Start Linux Mint in safe graphic mode *Boot from first hard disk The functions buttons available are: *F1 Help *F2 Language for language settinga (only english) *F3 Keymap for kaymap layout *F4 VGA for correct screen resolution setup *F5 Accessibility *F6 Other Options I just push Enter button to start loading. A grafic screen show the system loading. Few moment later, at the moment of X server, there began the problems. No correct screen resolution was found, and the system will run into "low graphic mode". A dialog window ask me to choice if proceeding into manually resolution setup, if continue in that graphical mode or if shutdown the system. Then i had set the correct screen resolution and all graphics problems goes up. Graphic environment and Look The main goal of Linux Mint is to take a Linux operating system easy to use and nice to see and the distro motto is "From freedom came elegance". Is true! Linux Mint is an elegant distribution and GNOME is bearer of elegance and synthesis. The desktop wallpaper is black and the distro icon with name are in the center. On bottom we found the taskbar with main menu button on the left. On the desktop there are only three icons : *Computer *Mint's Home *Install Very important to note is the main menu that's well organized. It include three main areas : Places, System, Applications. From this menu we have access to all system and his use is very easy. The applications window are nicely decorated and Linux Mint is able to run graphic effects with Compiz-Fusion. In conclusion Linux Mint is a fascinating operating system, elegant, widely customizable, modern and featured with graphic 3D support. center Features Linux Mint is a well featured operating system with a lot of applications for several tasks. With Linux Mint we wil be able to write, draw, edit photos, listen music and watch movies (thanks to multimedia codecs pre-installed), send messaging, chat, surf the net, mailing, install applications and much more. In Linux Mint there are two very useful tools: Mintinstall for packages installation - that are compatible with the Ubuntu repositories - and Mintupdate that be able to update the system without danger for them. Mintassistant is an other useful tool for system customization and AptonCD allow a backup of the applications installed on the system. In conclusion Linux Mint is a rich distro, easy to use, friendly to all users and customizable. center Usability Although Ubuntu is an operating system with high usability, Linux Mint have the same usability and much more. I believe that it's impossible to have issues to using this distro also for Linux newbies. No dark side, nor mistakes in the system where users may get lost. All distro features are reliable and well explained. Linux Mint is really a distro for uman beings! Linux Mint è realmente un sistema a misura di umani! center Pros *Usability *Beauty and clearness *Ubuntu-based *Software availabiity *Preinstalled multimedia codecs *Customization *Reliability Cons *Some problems with graphic cards or laptop screen Useful Links *'Main Page' : http://linuxmint.com/ *'Origin' : Ireland *'Mailing List' : -- *'Users Forum' : http://linuxmint.com/forum/ *'Documentation' : -- *'Download' : http://linuxmint.com/download.html Conclusioni Linux Mint is really a "ready" Linux distro! Could be enough this few words to summarize what is Linux Mint for all users that are loking for a good Linux distro. Congratulation to all "Daryna" development team.